The City of Altoona, in partnership with the Altoona Area Chamber of Commerce, Christensen Development, Ryan Companies US, Inc., & Design Alliance, will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Altoona City Hall and Police Department facilities located at 900 Venbury Dr., Altoona, Iowa on Tuesday, September 4th at 5:00pm.
Ground work on the project began August 20th and is expected to be completed spring of 2020.
This facility will house city staff on the north end of the building with the Police Department taking up the south end of the project. This project is approximately 87,000 square feet.
“The new City Hall/Police Station facility has been in the planning stages for well over ten years. The staffing and work load of a growing community has made our current facilities inefficient. In the case of the Police Station, the department has had to balance the safety of the general public with performing the essential functions of law enforcement. City Hall staff has been separated into two different facilities, making it more difficult for citizens to conduct business with the City. The new facility will provide service to the community in an easy one stop experience and will be a source of pride for all Altoona residents,” says Jeff Mark, Altoona City Administrator.
Special features for the facility include a 50-yard, 12-lane shooting range where the Altoona Police Department can practice and certify all officers in the department. The project is being built to accommodate future growth and will allow Altoona to host trainings for not only Altoona City and Police staff, but other jurisdictions as well.
Mayor Dean O’Connor states, “With the incredible growth over the last 10 to 15 years, we have all come to see and understand our present City Hall and Police Department cannot handle what Altoona has become and will be in the future. It is with great pride that we put shovels in the ground and start a new chapter for our wonderful city. This building will provide plenty of space for future growth as well as a state-of-the art training facility for our Police Department. Altoona citizens should be proud of how far our city has come and where it is going.”
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